Monday, November 14, 2016

Signs of "Economic Anxiety"

While some in the broken corporate media are busy normalizing neo-fascist bigot Donald "Rump" Trump after last week's election, his deplorable alt-right supporters are seeing the election as their mandate for racist harassment, intimidation and vandalism in Rump's name. The Southern Poverty Law Center has compiled a list of over 200 incidents (and growing) of threatening behavior, and some news outlets are also noticing the uptick in those incidents (see here, here, and here).

Watch as the accomodationists and both-siders discuss how the Dems overlooked the "economic anxiety" of blue collar Rump voters, while dismissing the obvious white nationalist, xenophobic and misogynist nature of their candidate's message. Here's E.J. Dionne, from the same article we quoted in the post below:

"When exit pollsters asked voters to name the most important issue facing the country, he won among those who listed immigration or terrorism; he lost among those who cited the economy. Trump’s hard-edged social conservatism, not just a general anti- establishment appeal, drove up white turnout in many key counties."(emphasis added)

While there have been dislocations in the Rust Belt states over many decades, under President Obama there've been 7 years of continuous job growth, the revival of the American auto industry, and retirement accounts that have been replenished with the surging stock market. Painting this ugly election as being fought over "economic anxiety" is dishonest and dangerous.